V 82. Cherson. Epitaph of Demetrios, Satournilla and others, second half of IVth century C.E.

Monument

Type

Wall. 

Material

Plaster. 

Additional description

Wall of a burial vault. The surface is lightly chipped. 

Place of Origin

Cherson. 

Find place

Sevastopol (Chersonesos). 

Find context

Necropolis by the Extramural Cruciform Church, Burial vault 1/2006. 

Find circumstances

2006, excavations of E.Ya. Turovsky. 

Modern location

In situ. 

Institution and inventory

In situ, no inventory number. 

Autopsy

May 1999, August 2001, September 2002, September 2003, September 2004, September 2005, September 2006, September 2007 September 2008. 

Epigraphic field 1

Position

In the centre of the ceiling. H. 41.0, W. 41.0

Lettering

Graffiti; letters of varying heights. Alpha with long and narrow loop, lunate epsilon, mu with looped centre, lunate sigma with horizontal top.  

Letterheights (cm)

4.0–6.0.

Epigraphic field 2

Position

On the ceiling near the entrance. H. 12.0, W. 25.0

Letterheights (cm)

3.0–5.0.

Epigraphic field 3

Position

Upper southeast bench, northeast wall, upper part. H. 20.0, W. 75.0

Letterheights (cm)

3.5–6.5.

Epigraphic field 4

Position

Northwest wall, southwest corner, to the right of a boat-image. H. 17.0, W. 13.0

Letterheights (cm)

4.0–9.0.

Text

Category

Epitaph, demonstrative? 

Date

Second half of IVth century C.E. 

Dating criteria

Palaeography, archaeological context. 

Editions

L1. Vinogradov 2009, 3, 231–233; 2. Vinogradov 2010, 126-129, № е1. 

Edition

1
Δημέτρις,
Σατουρνίλα,
Ἡρακλήδας,
Ἐ[λ]πίς,
5.α.κήνη,
Π.ακον,
Κυρακή.
2
Ἀχελίδης
Νικολάου.
3
Τηλεχλῖς Ἡρακλε[ι-]
ώτης μνήμης χάριν
ἔγραψεν.
4
Χρισ[---]

Diplomatic

1
ΔΗΜΕΤΡΙΣ
ΣΑΤΟΥΡΝΙΛΑ
ΗΡΑΚΛΗΔΑΣ
Ε[.]ΠΙΣ
5·Α·ΚΗΝΗ
Π·ΑΚΟΝ
ΚΥΡΑΚΗ
2
ΑΧΕΛΙΔΗΣ
ΝΙΚΟΛΑΟΥ
3
ΤΗΛΕΧΛΙΣΗΡΑΚΛΕ[.-]
ΩΤΗΣΜΝΗΜΗΣΧΑΡΙΝ
ΕΓΡΑΨΕΝ
4
ΧΡΙΣ[---]

EpiDoc (XML)

<div type="textpart" subtype="section" n="1">
      <ab>
      <lb n="1"/>Δημέτρις,
      <lb n="2"/>Σατουρνίλα,
      <lb n="3"/>Ἡρακλήδας,
      <lb n="4"/>Ἐ<supplied reason="lost">λ</supplied>πίς,
      <lb n="5"/><seg part="F"><gap reason="illegible" quantity="1" unit="character"/>α<gap reason="illegible" quantity="1" unit="character"/>κήνη</seg>,
      <lb n="6"/>Π<gap reason="illegible" quantity="1" unit="character"/>ακον,
      <lb n="7"/>Κυρακή.
      </ab>
   </div>
<div type="textpart" subtype="section" n="2">
      <ab>
      <lb n="1"/>Ἀχελίδης
      <lb n="2"/>Νικολάου.
      </ab>
   </div>
<div type="textpart" subtype="section" n="3">
      <ab>
      <lb n="1"/>Τηλεχλῖς
      Ἡρακλε<supplied reason="lost">ι</supplied><lb n="2" break="no"/>ώτης μνήμης χάριν
      <lb n="3"/>ἔγραψεν.
      </ab>
   </div>
<div type="textpart" subtype="section" n="4">
      <ab>
      <lb n="1"/> <certainty locus="value" match="../@type" assertedValue="divine"/><seg part="I">Χρισ<gap reason="lost" extent="unknown" unit="character"/></seg>
      </ab>
   </div>

Translation

1

Demetrios, Satournilla, Herakleides, Elpis, [.]a[.]kine, P[.]akon, Kyriake.

2

Achelides, son of Nicholas.

3

Telechlis of Herakleia wrote this in commemoration.

4

Chris...

 

Commentary

Some corrections to readings were made during the visual inspection of the monument in September 2008. The inscription represents a list of names analogous to the one found in the nearby Burial Vault 1431 (see V 85).

1. The name Demetrios (here Demetris) is attested in the Byzantine epigraphy of the Northern Black Sea in V 91 and V 336. It is also known in ancient Chersonesos (IOSPE I2 359 (with reference to a man from Herakleia (on which see below), 454, 686).

2. The name Satournilla (here Satournila) is not known either among Christian inscriptions, or in the Northern Black Sea region, but the masculine form Satournilos is attested in this area three times.

3. The name Herakleides (here Herakledas) is attested in Christian epigraphy 7 times (according to PHI7 Database), including, similarly to our case, the Doric form Ἡρακλείδας (Jerphanion 1928, № 60).

4. The Christian name Elpis (Hope) (see Delehaye 1902, 1080) is known in Byzantine inscriptions only in Asia Minor and Italy (four times each).

6-7. Names cannot be restored.

7. On the name Kyriake and its spelling (here Kyrake), see V 278.

1. The name Achelides is attested according to LGPN, 7 times altogether, but never in Christian usage. On transition of i into e, see commentary to V 77.

2. The name Nicholas is attested in Northern Black Sea region of the Byzantine period: V 4, V 48, V 67, V 90.5, V 205 и V 233. It is not known in ancient Chersonesos.

1-2. The name Τηλεχλῖς is unique, but might be a (dialectal?) variant of the name Τηλεκλῆς attested 11 times, according to LGPN, but not in Christian epigraphy. In Cherson it is not surprising to find a Herakleiote, that is, a citizen of Herakleia Pontica, because the former was an apoikia of the latter.

2-3. On the formula, see Introduction IV.3.F.i.

Several reconstructions are possible: Christos, Christo..., Christian (cf. V 270) and other.

Inscriptions are made over wet plaster, at the same time as the christogram and drawings of boats. Thus, despite the absence of specifically Christian elements (the formula of V 82, Text 3 is unique for Byzantine Crimea, see Introduction IV.3.F.i), we should identify this text as Christian. Since all the texts are inscribed by one hand, that of a man from Herakleia, we should conclude that we are dealing with a tradition that is alien to the Christian tradition of Cherson. The archaeological data allow us to date the burial vault to the 2nd half of the IVth century (Stupko, Turovsky, Filippenko 2007).

 

Images

 Photograph of face 1(from ??) Photograph of face 2(from ??)

(cc) © 2015 Andrey Vinogradov (edition), Irene Polinskaya (translation)
You may download this inscription in EpiDoc XML. (This file should validate to the EpiDoc schema.)